1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lamp socket, a backlight assembly including the lamp socket, and a liquid crystal display including the backlight assembly. More particularly, the present invention relates to a lamp socket capable of easy assembly and a reduction in manufacturing costs, a backlight assembly including the lamp socket, and a liquid crystal display including the backlight assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
Liquid crystal displays are one of the most commonly used flat panel displays. Liquid crystal displays, which include two panels having a plurality of electrodes thereon and a liquid crystal layer interposed between the two panels, control the transmittance of incident light by applying voltages to the electrodes to rearrange liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer. The liquid crystal molecules may be oriented to allow light to pass therethrough, may be oriented to block light from passing therethrough, or may be oriented to allow only a portion of the light to pass therethrough.
Liquid crystal displays include a backlight assembly for supplying light to the liquid crystal layer. The backlight assembly typically includes lamps, various types of optical sheets, and a housing unit for receiving the lamps and the optical sheets. Conventionally, sockets are used to fasten the lamps into the housing unit. With respect to conventional liquid crystal displays using a plurality of lamps arranged in an ordered fashion, an alignment plate is used for securing the sockets coupled with the lamps to the housing unit. The sockets are secured to the housing unit with an alignment plate after being inserted into holes formed in the housing unit.
According to the above-described conventional liquid crystal displays, an alignment plate is separately used to secure sockets to a housing unit, thereby complicating the liquid crystal display assembly process. Furthermore, the arrangement of sockets may need to be changed according to the type of liquid crystal display used, which requires the fabrication of a new alignment plate configured for the arrangement of sockets, thereby resulting in an increase in both manufacturing costs and manufacturing time.